$20M grant 'a big deal' for Memorial Bridge

Thursday

Oct 21, 2010 at 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said he could have chosen to be anywhere in the country Wednesday when the federal Department of Transportation TIGER II federal stimulus grants were officially awarded. But he said he chose to come to Portsmouth to award a $20 million grant to help replace Memorial Bridge because of the "extraordinary bipartisanship effort it took to make this happen."

Deborah McDermott

PORTSMOUTH — U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said he could have chosen to be anywhere in the country Wednesday when the federal Department of Transportation TIGER II federal stimulus grants were officially awarded. But he said he chose to come to Portsmouth to award a $20 million grant to help replace Memorial Bridge because of the "extraordinary bipartisanship effort it took to make this happen."

As he spoke, LaHood was flanked on the deck of One Harbour Place by that bipartisan, two-state group — Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, and Democratic U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree of Maine and Carol Shea-Porter of New Hampshire, as well as both states' governors.

He said each member of the delegations "talked to me numerous, numerous, numerous times about the importance of this bridge."

"This is a big deal today," LaHood said. "What a grand bipartisan show there is for this project. You have to be struck by the power of the women who represent these two states. They're extraordinary because they get it. There are no Democratic or Republican roads or bridges in this country. There simply are not. There are American roads."

LaHood said it was also important to thank "the courageous people who voted for the stimulus bill. Fifteen thousand projects are going on because we were able to have the opportunity to make this work." He said it is not easy "to do big things in difficult economic times. Thank you to both states for sending such extraordinary people to Congress."

Snowe and Collins were among three Senate Republicans who voted in favor of the final stimulus bill that passed the U.S. Senate. Collins, who introduced LaHood, said she was afforded that honor because she is on the transportation appropriations subcommittee and has had more time than others in the delegation to talk with him about the bridge.

"The very first time I discussed the Memorial Bridge with the secretary, it was clear that he understood what makes it so special," she said, mentioning its importance to commerce, as part of the Route 1 corridor, to the residents of Kittery and Portsmouth and as a "stirring memorial" to those who fought in World War I.

"Secretary LaHood understood all of that, and this project meshed perfectly" with his priorities of creating jobs, increasing safety and fostering community.

Shaheen paid homage to the delegations by saying, "All you have to do is look at everyone here to know how hard we worked to make this happen. I'm not going to comment that we're all women, but let it be said we all work well together."

Snowe said she wanted to thank LaHood for "being here personally to bring such a very important check — you did bring it, didn't you?" she said to laughter. "We deeply appreciate that you made such a significant decision that is going to have such a profound impact on our two states."

She and Shea-Porter both compared the fight to save the bridge with the fight to save the shipyard.

"We saved the shipyard, and now we're here to save the bridges," Shea-Porter said. "This is a great investment in our communities."

According to Pingree, it is the community members who deserve much of the credit.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to people from both of these communities for their activism," she said. "You've been incredibly articulate and hard-working. This is a big day for all of you, and you've done a great job."

Many of those people, including members of Save Our Bridges and the Maine-N.H. Connections Study were on hand for the event.

"I'm really relieved," said Steve Kosacz, who owns Autoworks in Kittery and has been very involved in the Save Our Bridges citizens group. "When you own a small business, you don't have the time to be doing this kind of thing. I kept saying, 'I can't do this anymore, because it's just a waste of time.' Something like this — I think it made all the difference to have people who just worked relentlessly and wouldn't give up."

"Yahoo!" said Save Our Bridges founder Ben Porter, recalling that two years ago he sent out a survey to 12 people about the bridge and received 700 responses.

"I found out just how important this bridge is. A month ago, I was feeling like Don Quixote. But here we are today."

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